Friends
by TheMightyZan
Summary: Mother Giselle voices her concerns about Dorian


She could hear the arguing before she even made it fully into Solas' study. She glanced at the other elf, but he offered little more than a vague point upwards, a scowl firmly on his face, before he focused back on the texts in front of him.

Recognizing the louder voice as Dorian she adjusted the books in her arms and headed for the stairs, curiosity winning out over annoyance at the disturbance since she couldn't think of who he might be arguing with.

She topped the stairs just as the he made some snide remark about his tongue getting compliments and dumped her books next to a shelf before straightening and focusing on the situation. Seeing Mother Giselle standing nearly foot to foot with the mage caused her to bite back a sigh.

She should have guessed that is who it would be.

Nell liked the woman well enough, she did much to help the refugees, and she offered council to the members of the Inquisition that needed such things, but the Revered Mother had never tried to hide her distrust of the Tevinter mage, and she had come to Nell more than once with some supposed infraction he had perpetrated.

It was getting damned annoying, and she wasted no time in making her way over to the pair and grabbing Dorian by the back of his belt so that she could tug hard enough to have him stepping back before she situated herself between them.

She stared at them both a moment before speaking, her arms folding over her chest. "What's going on here?"

Mother Giselle stumbled over herself, her words dying off as she shifted under what Nell liked to call her 'Inquisitor regard'. Realizing she wasn't going to get an actual helpful response from the woman, she shifted her attention to Dorian, noting his closed off expression before speaking again. "Well?"

She watched him think over a response before folding his arms in a mirror of her own pose, a frown forming. "It seems the Revered Mother is concerned about my undue influence on you."

She sputtered out a laugh, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and muffle the sound. She looked back at Mother Giselle, sure there must be some mistake, and was greeted with a cautious twist of lips. "It is merely a concern. Your Worship, you must know how this looks."

"How what looks?" The words sounded strange between her fingers, but she couldn't drop her hand just yet without risking laughing in the older woman's face.

"You might need to spell it out, my dear." Dorian's words were bland, but sounded much more relaxed than they had just moments before. She hoped it was because he realized she couldn't possibly take such a suggestion seriously.

Mother Giselle glanced between them before lifting her hands in some sort of supplication, her voice turning cajoling. "This man is of Tevinter, surely you must see that his presence at your side…" she trailed off, as if nothing else needed to be said, then shrugged and dropped her hands. "The rumors alone-"

Nell stopped her with a gesture, annoyance resurfacing as she turned to stand beside the aforementioned 'Vint', as Bull would call him, and scowl at the human before her. "What is it about him being from Tevinter specifically that seems to be the problem?"

Mother Giselle huffed out a breath and folded her own arms, the tension between them all rising. "I'm fully aware that not everyone from Tevinter is the same."

"It's all well and good that you say such things, but how does it help when you still bend to the will of the masses?" Dorian's voice had taken on a defeated edge and Nell had to fight back the urge to snarl at the chantry mother for putting such a tone to his voice.

The Mother didn't seem to notice.

"It is an opinion based on centuries of evidence. What exactly would you have me tell them?"

"The truth?" Dorian's voice cracked with the words, and Nell opened her mouth to bite out a comment even as the woman replied to the question addressed to her.

"The truth is that I do not know you, and neither do they, so these rumors are going to continue."

"What are these rumors exactly?" Nell asked, her arms folding again as she took a step closer to Dorian's side.

"I would not like to repeat them, Your Worship."

"Repeat them? So you've said them before?"

Mother Giselle had the decency to look abashed at the question, her gaze moving away even as she shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe, the next time you hear a person spouting unfounded, derogatory comments about someone who has done nothing but offer knowledge and his own life to helping the Inquisition you will rethink agreeing with them so readily. I honestly thought better of you."

The Revered Mother still did not look at her; instead she shifted again and offered a jerky half bow, her face dropping so that her thoughts could not be read. "Of course, Inquisitor. It was only a concern."

"Do me a favor, if you have such concerns again, and it seems that you often do, come to me about it first and refrain from harassing others. They have more important things to do than be chastised for imaginary ills by you."

Mother Giselle lifted her head long enough to share a closed off look with Nell. "Of course, Your Worship. If you truly believe this man has only good intentions than I humble apologize to you both." She offered another bow before moving away.

"Well that was something," Dorian quipped, his voice finally lacing with something other than acceptance or hurt. She thought it might be humor, but it wasn't quite obvious.

Nell mimed reaching her hands up to throttle the woman as she disappeared down the stairs before turning to look at Dorian. "Does that happen often?"

"More than you might think."

She gave a disgusted grunt and turned to face him more fully as he continued on. "No one knows their own reputation."

"Until someone helpfully points it out."

They smiled at each other, the air around them relaxing before Dorian's brows furrowed and drew low over his eyes. "She's not wrong you know. The rumors… do they bother you?"

She shook her head automatically, her smile tilting to one side as she looked him over. "If I worried about every rumor that has been said about me I would still be huddled in a bed in Haven. It only bothers me that they would disparage you when they don't know you."

"They know you even less." He looked her over, his gaze growing serious as he straightened his shoulders and dropped his hands to his sides. "This is going to sound odd, but I should let you know… I think of you as a friend, Nell. I have precious few of those, and I never expected to find one here."

She blinked at him, and took a step back, confusion making her eyes narrow while some sound fell from her mouth that made little sense and had him chuckling lightly. "Don't try to say anything, I detest confession and I want to get this over with, besides you would just botch whatever you think you might say anyway."

He wasn't wrong, so she pressed her lips together as he continued on. "I just want you to know that I will always stand by your side, against anything, be it Corypheus, or my countrymen, or even ridiculous rumors." He finally looked away, his voice turning uncertain as embarrassment took over. "As long as you'll have me at least."

She simply stared at him, unsure how to respond. She considered him a friend also, probably the best one she had in this whole place, but saying such a thing would only leave her feeling ridiculous and embarrassed and she would be damned if she was going to be blushing in front of him because he said something nice. So she pretended to think it over before waving her hand dismissively. "Why in the world would I send you away? Unless you tried to kill me… or seduce Cullen." She used her raised hand to point at him, her lips twitching with the urge to smile. "Don't try to seduce Cullen."

His gaze shot back to hers, wide eyed and not a little surprised before a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. When he spoke his voice was laced with humor. "I will try my best to control myself, but you can't really blame me that others find me irresistible."

She gave an understanding nod and returned his smile. "We aren't going to hug now are we? Because… that's… that's not really my thing," she continued, suddenly uncomfortably worried that he might want something like that.

He laughed again and shook his head, his arms refolding. "It's not my thing either, so no. Anyway, was there a reason you came up here in the first place?"

"There was." She was thankful for the easy fall back into a more comfortable subject, and she turned to point at the books she had initially been carrying. "I found some things on my last trip to Val Royeaux that I thought might interest you."

"Marvelous, Nellie, let's have a look shall we?"


End file.
